Mine Storm 3 (Fred Taft hack)
Mine Storm is the built-in game that came with every Vectrex unit. It was also released in a 3-D version that required the use of the Vectrex 3D Imager and as a bug-free replacement cartridge called Mine Storm 2. Mine Storm 3 is a hack of the original Mine Storm, which was created by Fred Taft, which included several new features added to the game. However, unlike with the original version, which allowed for up to two players alternating turns, this version is for one player only. Gameplay Gameplay is similar to the arcade game Asteroids. The player moves around the screen shooting at star-shaped Mines of various sizes and mannerisms. Each screen has many dots, which can potentially turn into Mines; once a Mine is shot, two dots on the screen will turn into medium-sized Mines, which will then turn into two small Mines when shot (note: for the most part; sometimes, perhaps due to a glitch, a medium-sized Mine will just hatch one small Mine). When all dots have been turned into Mines on a screen the Minelayer will come out, laying Mines in it's wake until the player destroys it. Making contact with any Mine, fireball, or Minelayer will destroy the player's ship and the game will end once there are no more reserve ships left. Extra ships are earned after every four levels are cleared. The Escape function acts as Hyperspace, which moves the player's ship to a random area on the screen in case of emergency. The original Mine Storm had a bug that would cause the game to crash if the player was able to clear Mine Field 13 (although two other widely-released versions of the game would allow players to advance far beyond the 13th Field). In this updated hack, the bug was fixed, and with every 12 Fields the player would clear, this would advance the game to a new Phase, which caused the Mines to blink on and off; with every new Phase that was reached, the Mines would stay off for a longer period of time before reappearing. Additional features On the main menu screen, the player has the option in choosing between rapid fire or leaving it off (the latter of which allows fewer shots that can be fired at once), what Phase to begin with, and if they want infinite lives or the standard game with five lives like with the original Mine Storm. Controls Main menu *Choose from starting Phase (up to Phase 5)--button one *Turn rapid fire on or off--button two *Choose between infinite lives or with five lives--button three *Start game--button four In-game *Move ship left and right--joystick or D-pad left and right *Escape--button two *Thrust--button three *Fire rockets--button four Scoring (large, medium, small/points) *Floating Mine--100 135 200 *Fireball Mine--325 360 425 *Magnetic Mine--500 535 600 *Magnetic-Fireball Mine--750 585 850 *Fireball--110 *Minelayer--1000 Mine types *Floating Mines--regular "dumb" Mines that just drift around *Fireball Mines--these will launch a fireball when shot, usually right at the player's ship *Magnetic Mines--follows the player around *Magnetic-Fireball Mines--combination of the behavior of Fireball and Magnetic Mines Trivia/notes Other knock-offs of the original Mine Storm include Mine Storm III, supposedly having hundreds of levels and there was only one copy made with a handmade, rather than a printed labelEdge magazine account of a tour through a Vectrex factory. A ROM file for MonStorm (or "Monster Mine Storm") was sold off in regards to some Vectrex rarities in 2011Google Vectrex News Group thread, which allowed for more shots than on the original game and some Mines shot back at the player. References Category:Shooter Category:Simulation Category:Vectrex games Category:Hacks